February 27: In the worst escalation of hostilities between India and Pakistan in decades, a day after India’s air strike to target a terror camp in Balakot, fighter jets of both sides engaged in direct battle. Several countries have urged restraint amid the heightened tension between the two countries. Pakistan claimed it had captured the pilot, as a video circulated by Pakistani accounts showed a man in uniform, blindfolded and wounded.
In the video released by Pakistan, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman’s could be seen to exhibit calm, clear voice as he spoke to his captors, on camera. He told them who he was, gave them his service number, and identified himself as a Hindu. When a gruff demand for more details followed — “What else?” — Wing Commander Varthaman replied coolly: “I’m sorry sir…that’s all I’m supposed to tell you.”
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed that an Indian Air Force pilot has been missing in action after a Pakistan Air Force fighter aircraft was shot down by a MiG 21 Bison of the Indian Air Force. “In this engagement, we have unfortunately lost one MiG 21. The pilot is missing in action. Pakistan has claimed that he is in their custody. We are ascertaining the facts,” said the statement by MEA.
Videos of a captured Indian Air Force pilot has been circulating on social media since morning. In the video, Pakistani army officials can be heard cautioning the locals from attacking the pilot. In another 46-second video released by the Pakistan Army, a blindfolded man claiming that he’s IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan. “I am an IAF officer. My service No is 27981,” the man says in the video.
A Sukhoi 30 pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was commissioned in 2004 as a Flying Officer. He is the son of Air Marshal Simhakutty Varthaman, who served as the AOC-in-C of Eastern Air Command in Shillong from August 1, 2011 to November 30, 2012. It is natural for Wing Commander Abhinandan to be bold as he is the son a great fighter pilot Air Marshal Simhakutty Varthaman, an alumnus of the Sainik School at Amaravathinagar in Tamil Nadu and trained at the National Defence Academy.
